18 Oct 2018 (AFR) – Trump’s gamble may end ‘very badly indeed’ – Donald Trump is stomping the brakes and accelerator at the same time

‘Washington | Already the great stock meltdown of early October 2018 looks to be a thing of the past – so last week! Wall Street is back in its happy mode, with the Dow Jones finishing up 547 points, or 2.2 per cent, on Tuesday afternoon (Wednesday AEDT), paring a good slice of the damage.’ <snipped…>

‘Look no further than this week’s US Treasury report that the federal budget deficit has blown out to $US779 billion ($1.09 trillion) in fiscal 2018, 17 per cent higher than the previous year. This fiscal deterioration has been driven by Trump’s tax cuts, which have pushed the deficit to the equivalent of 3.9 per cent of US gross domestic product. It’s expected to top $US1 trillion in 2019. On present trends, federal debt will balloon to 100 per cent of GDP by the end of the next decade from 78 per cent today. These kinds of numbers are normally associated with the aftermath of calamitous recession or wars; rarely with an economy already in rude health. Yet the most stunning feature of this blowout is that nobody seems to care in Washington. Treasury’s report was greeted by the sound of crickets.’